Wrexham chief executive Don Bircham said it was a difficult decision to sack manager Gary Mills , but insisted that results and performances have not been up to the standard required.

The Dragons currently sit in 15th place in the National League after an inauspicious start to the campaign and are the joint second lowest goalscorers in the league.

Last Saturday’s 2-0 loss at local rivals Tranmere Rovers proved to be the final straw for the club board with Mills departing the club with immediate effect and less than 48 hours after they were due to face Stamford AFC in the FA Cup .

“I’m going to make the obvious statement but it is a results business and I think it is a combination of the performances and the results were below expectations,” said Bircham.

“We gave that careful consideration, spoke to Gary on numerous occasions and like many fans we were hoping we would see some sort of a return to the flair we were playing with last season. But it became a point where it didn’t look like it was going to happen and the decision was made.

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“Its a terrible decision to make, I have had to sit with Gary and Barry Horne, it is terrible, it never gets easier in any walk of life, be it football or otherwise. We had a very good relationship with Gary, a very open and honest relationship and he took the decision with great dignity as you would expect.

“It is a very difficult decision, but in terms of timing, we watch the same football as everybody else and there comes a point where you need to make a decision and it wasn’t working for Gary.

“We looked at the FA Cup fortnight as pivotal moment in the season, so we gathered our thoughts after Tranmere and talked it through and in the end it was a unanimous decision.”

Gary Mills

The duo of youth team coaches Joey Jones and Andy Davies, as well as former Dragons captain Dean Keates , will be in charge for Wrexham’s FA Cup fourth qualifying round clash at Stamford AFC on Saturday.

Bircham, who also revealed that within an hour of news breaking of Mills’s exit they had already received an application for the position, was delighted to have such experienced and quality replacements to take over in the interim.

And the chief executive insisted it was important there was as little disruption to the squad as possible heading into the cup clash against a side three tiers below in the pyramid.

He added: “We are trying to make this game on Saturday as uneventful as possible in terms of the organisation. These guys are all familiar with the squad, the arrangements for Saturday will remain as they were, so there is as little as possible in way of difficulties for the squad.

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“They will go down there as normal, stay over and play the match with those three in charge. I am very, very happy about having that depth of quality to take over immediately and I am sure they will be excellent and will lift the squad.

“It will be difficult for the squad, because the players are loyal to the manager and we understand that, but these three are capable of lifting the squad.”

Bircham continued: “We will sit as a board very early next week and start to formulate that (application) process.

“It won’t surprise you to learn that we’ve had an application within the past hour, but that is the nature of the football. Of course we are a very attractive club, so I have absolutely no doubt the quality will be there to take over.”